Sweethearts and Suckers
by Blue-A-Touille
Summary: A Horton Hears A Who! fan fic. Kind of a random short story I wrote as I went along.
1. Average Aftermath

Sweethearts and Suckers 1: Average Aftermath

Jojo McDodd entered the front door of his house from a long day at school, humming. He tilted his head from side to side, swaying to the tune. He closed the door behind him carefully, and took his books with him upstairs.

"Jojo?" His mother, Sally called to him. But he paid no mind, not hearing a word, but his own song.

"Jojo? You okay?" She asked. But he was out of hearing range by now.

"Mommy, what's wrong with Jojo?" one of his younger sisters, Holly asked.

"Nothing honey, just keep playing with your sisters," she assured her. Holly simply shrugged and continued her play.

"Good evening my lovely wife!" Ned declared as he walked through the front door, and gave Sally a little smooch.

"Somebody had a good day today," she chuckled.

"Somebody had a _very_ good day today!" He beamed. "I finally checked out every last detail about the giant meatball for the Who-centennial! We are good to go!" He cheered.

"Great!" Sally agreed.

"Hey, is Jojo here? I wanted to ask him something," Ned asked.

"He just got home, I'm sure he's in his room," Sally replied.

"Thanks honey," he kissed her cheek and headed upstairs to find his son.

"Jojo? Son? You in here?" Ned knocked on his bedroom door, which was cracked open. He opened it slightly wider, finding the room dark.

"Jojo?" He called in a quieter tone. He opened the door completely to see Jojo lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Hey, Jojo, are you okay?" Ned asked, wondering what he was doing sitting on his bed doing nothing. Jojo just nodded in response.

"I wanted to ask you something, son," Ned began to speak as he sat at the end of Jojo's bed.

"The Who-centennial arrangements have been made already, including the giant meatball. I was wondering if maybe, _you_ wanted to sit on it with me. You know, the mayor and his son, sort of _bonding_. Who-ville would be Whostory if it wasn't for you, you know. They'd love to see their hero on top of that meatball. So whatd'ya say?" Ned's smile was sincere, full of hope. He had been wanting an opportunity to "bond" with Jojo, even if it was on a giant meatball.

Jojo simply sighed with a sweet smile on his face. "Sure dad, whatever you say."

Ned thought he would have been thrilled if he answered yes, but somehow, there wasn't very much excitement.

"Jojo? Are you okay?" Ned waved his hand in front of his face. But Jojo didn't stir the slightest flinch. He snapped his fingers instead, and Jojo blinked a few times before sitting up from his bed.

"What? What's going on?" Jojo asked, sort of confused.

"Did you hear anything I just said?" Ned asked curiously.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I kind of dazed off. What were you saying?" He still held a dreamy look on his face when he spoke, as if entranced.

"Jojo, are you sure you're okay?" Ned cocked a brow.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine. No worries," Jojo assured him.

"Well as I was saying, I was wondering if you wanted to sit on the giant meatball with me at the Who-centennial, being the town hero and all," he repeated his question.

"Sure. Why not," he shrugged, then laid back down on his bed.

"Oh, this is gonna be great! Thanks Jojo!" Ned squeezed him in a tight hug before he left.

"No problem, dad," Jojo rolled his eyes as his dad ran out the door.

"Ned, what were you asking Jojo?" Sally asked as Ned came down the stairs.

"Oh I just asked if he wanted to sit on the giant meatball with me at the Who-centennial," Ned replied.

"Well that should be fun! Did he say he would?"

"Yep! Mayor and future mayor bonding! Can't go wrong with that!" He declared. Of course, there was nothing wrong with that. But there _was_ something slightly out of place in Jojo's mind, no matter how much he refused to admit it.

"Excuse me, do you know where room 10 is?"

Jojo closed his locker door and saw the girl speaking to him. She had above shoulder length black hair that shined with a touch of blue. Her eyes sparkled like blue sapphires and had cream colored fur with blueish black stripes. She was a bit shorter than some of the girl Whos at school, but that didn't seem a bother.

"Yeah, it's this way. Follow me," Jojo pointed down the hall and ushered her to follow.

"Are you new here?" He asked while they were walking.

"No. I'm just transferring classes," she replied.

"How come?"

"Careless teachers. Some Whos actually strive to learn, you know," she grunted and rolled her eyes.

"Not a lot do, though," he shrugged.

"Such as yourself?" She cocked a brow.

"No, no. I like learning. It's not so bad. Some subjects are better than others, though."

"True enough. All depending on your own interests," she nodded.

"I'm Jojo, by the way," he held out his open hand.

"Meagan," she shook it, then quickly let go, as if she wanted to be anywhere but there.

"So I guess we're gonna be in the same class now, huh?" He half smiled.

"I had guessed that would be the case. It appears so." Jojo was a little nervous that she sounded so stern and disappointed.

They arrived at the classroom where Whos were seated quietly and waiting for the bell to ring.

"Hello Miss Kepler. From your marks, I trust you will be a wonderful student at this school," the teacher, Mrs. Carson greeted Meagan, smiling. Meagan simply smiled back, so the teacher continued while Jojo sat down at his desk in the middle of five rows.

"You may sit wherever you like, there's open seats in the back or the front." Meagan chose a seat in the second to the front row, near the open window.

Jojo sat at his desk behind her, staring at her quizzically. There was something that was strange about her. Something...different. She was definitely smart, yet...she had a slight trace of an attitude. A wise cracker, maybe? He couldn't tell. But there was something that caught his eye, something he couldn't really see, but something about her.

She remained quietly seated at her desk, hands folded neatly in her lap, and perfect posture. Jojo's look of wonder somewhat disappeared as a new thought crept into his mind. He wondered why Mrs. Carson said she would be wonderful for the school when Meagan said she was only switching classes. Why did she lie?


	2. Affirmative Arrangements

Sweethearts and Suckers 2: Affirmative Arrangements

"Uh huh. You're kidding! Well that's great! Wonderful!"

Jojo slowly crept down the staircase in his house and tiptoed to the front door, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, knowing his dad was right around the corner.

"Tomorrow night? Perfect! See you then! Bye!" Ned hung up the phone and walked out of the kitchen right as Jojo was closing the front door.

"Jojo! Hey! Where are you heading off to so early?" He asked in his usual cheery voice.

"Um...I just..I don't wanna be late for school is all," he shyly shrugged.

"Ah ha, good call son," Ned ruffled up his hair as he smiled with satisfaction.

"Education is a very important in life and I'm glad to see that you're taking it seriously. I'm not saying that you didn't take it seriously before, I'm just glad that you wanna go to great lengths...to learn all that you can..." Ned gazed off, speaking those last words in a strange tone that was definitely not his natural voice. Jojo kind of cocked an eyebrow, trying hard not to laugh.

"Yeah, okay dad. I'll see ya later," Jojo walked outside and closed the door behind him, heaving a sigh of relief.

"Ned, did Jojo leave already?" Sally asked as she came down the stairs.

"Yeah, he said he wanted to get to school early to be sure he wasn't late. I'm so proud of him," Ned sniffed.

"Well, this is a slightly interesting change of pace," Sally nodded, smiling. "I'm impressed." She came up to Ned and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh! Hun! I almost forgot! Karen Kepler called just now. You remember her? Dr. Larue's sister from high school?" Ned asked excitedly.

"Oh yes! I remember her," Sally nodded.

"Karen and her family just moved back here from What-ville and she's helping Dr. Larue and all the staff at Who U construct the floats for the Who-centennial!" Ned declared happily.

"She is? Well that's great!" Sally agreed.

"And I invited them over for dinner tomorrow night. Karen, Isaac, their son Nicolaus and their daughter Maggie," Ned smiled cheerfully.

"Great! It'll be good to see some old friends again," Sally fake smiled.

"What's wrong, hun?" Ned asked.

"I'm just thinking, it might be a little akward having one of your ex-girlfriends over for dinner," she confessed.

"Sally, she's married and has kids! Besides, I got you, right?" He smiled lovingly, and Sally couldn't help herself but kiss him.

"Alright, you better be getting to work Mr, Mayor. The city of Who-ville awaits!"


	3. Dead Deal

Sweethearts and Suckers 3: Dead Deal

As Ned was heading off to work, Jojo was halfway to the school by now. His feet had a mind of their own, refusing to succumb to their owner's wishes. Even if they really were his wishes.

"Why do I want to go to the library? Why do I want to see her?" Jojo thought to himself. "She's just another girl at my school that happens to be in my homeroom. And Whostory, and Who-ology, and Math. Great." He sighed, not knowing what he was doing, or why.

He was at the entrance of the school library now, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open. He didn't bother to even look up from his feet as he made his way to the computers. He set his backpack down next to him and clicked the computer on.

He opened the Internet to make it look like he was actually doing something. He slowly took his eyes away from the screen, and carefully scanned the room. There were a few boys browsing around, looking for books, and a couple girls were sitting in bean bag chairs, reading. There was one other person at the computers, a girl.

Her face was fixed intently on the screen as she was typing on the keyboard. She never looked up to see Jojo, but was concentrating intensely.

"Well, there she is. Now what?" Jojo thought after finding the dead end. "I guess I could start on my science project." He sighed. "An essay on a recent discovery in science, I think."

School didn't officially start for another 45 minutes or so, so he might as well have been making good use of his time.

"What are some new scientific discoveries? We discussed about some kind of new diamonds recently or something. What was it?" Jojo thought out loud, trying to remember.

"Argonated...articulated...organic...ar--" he thought out loud.

"Aggregated. Aggregated diamond nanorods."

Jojo looked up and past the computer screen to see Maegan doing exactly the same thing she was doing 5 minutes ago. She didn't even bother to look up.

"Oh, right. Wait, how'd you know that?" Jojo asked curiously.

"You mentioned new scientific discoveries about diamonds, and you were trying to remember the word 'aggregated'." She continued typing.

"Okay. Thanks again." He half smiled. She didn't respond. He typed 'aggregated diamond nanorods' in the search engine on YaWho.

"Okay, let's check out aggregated diamond nanorods on Wikipedia..." he thought, clicking on the first link that showed up.

"Aggregated diamond nanorods, or ADNRs, are an allotrope of carbon believed to be the hardest and least compressible known material, as measured by its isothermal bulk modulus; aggregated diamond nanorods have a modulus of..." he trailed off as he read the information in his head.

"Okay, what's an allotrope? And what is its isothermal bulk modulus? Okay, maybe I should pick another subject," he sighed in disappointment.

"Having trouble?" Maegan asked, this time, she stopped what she was doing and looked over at him.

"What's bulk modulus?" He replied.

"Bulk modulus is defined as the pressure increase needed to affect a certain decrease in volume of a substance," she answered plainly.

He thought for a second. "So...it's like how much force you need to put on something to make it a certain size smaller?" He asked, hoping he understood.

"Basically, yes," she nodded.

"So, it means its the hardest known substance to reduce because of its bulk modulus?" He asked again.

"Yes."

"Oh, okay. Thanks." He smiled and went back to reading in his head.

"...have a modulus of 491 gigapascals (GPa), while a conventional diamond has a modulus of 442 GPa. ADNRs are also 0.3 denser than regular diamond."

"Sure you don't have anymore questions?" She was still looking over at him.

"I might. Do you wanna help me out?" He asked.

"Alright, I guess." She typed some more stuff on the keyboard, then pulled her thumb drive out of the computer. She picked up her things and moved next to him, resetting her things on that computer.


	4. Clearer Confusion

Sweethearts and Suckers 4: Clearer Confusion

Lunchtime arrived that Friday at Who High, and Jojo had his sack lunch prepared, and went to sit at his usual table with a couple friends.

"...And they said her family got kicked out of What-ville for working on evil scientific experiments that can melt your face off." Jojo sat down as Sam was telling the story to Cody and Jamie.

"Ewwww! That's gross!" Jamie grimaced at the thought.

"Jojo, have you seen that new girl, Maggie?" Sam asked.

"Is that who you're talking about?" He asked, taking the contents of his lunch out of his paper bag.

"Yeah, she's like a mad scientist," he grinned evilly to get the full affect across.

"Don't ever make that face again," Cody looked a little scared. Jojo laughed.

"You don't really think she's evil, right? That's just a dumb rumor. You don't have any proof," Jojo argued.

"Well, you don't have any proof that she's not," Sam crossed his arms.

"Well, you don't have any proof that she _is_," Jojo smiled. "Why are you guys already spreading rumor's about some girl you don't even know?"

"We're not spreading them, we just hear them," Cody reasoned.

"All the same, you're not trying to stop them," Jojo took a bite of his sandwich.

"What are we supposed to do about it?" Jamie asked, crossing her arms.

"Just, don't spread it around. I bet this Maggie is a really nice person. Don't judge her until you meet her," Jojo asked.

"Well then why don't you go over to her and talk to her yourself?" Sam suggested.

"You can't just go up to people and ask if a rumor about them is true or not," Jojo reasoned.

"You don't have to say it like _that_, just ask her some questions that'll make the truth come out."

"If you're so interested in finding the truth, why don't you just go talk to her yourself?" Jojo argued.

"Because I would not like my face melted off," he answered. Jamie and Cody giggled and Jojo rolled his eyes.

"I'm gonna show you guys that she's not evil." He stood up from his seat.

"Where is she at?" Sam pointed to a table with only one person sitting at it. Jojo slowly walked to the table, noticing she was wearing a black and blue French terry hoodie, with the hood partially covering her face.

"Excuse me, you mind if I sit down?" He asked from behind her. She didn't verbally answer, just shrugged, obviously not caring. He sat down across from her, not being able to see her face.

"You're Maggie, right?" He asked. She nodded slowly.

"Hi, I'm Jojo," he held his hand out to her, she stared at it funny, then shook it anyway.

_"Does he really not know it's me? I was helping him with a project this morning, and now he doesn't even recognize me?"_

"So, do you like it here?" He tried making conversation, noticing she wasn't much of a talker.

"Aside from the rumors," she shrugged, and spoke in a scratchy voice, almost fake sounding.

"People shouldn't believe everything they hear. I don't," he tried assuring her.

"You're right. But not everyone does," she sank in her chair a little, sighing. Jojo felt bad for her, and decided to change the subject.

"So, how come you moved from What-ville?"

"Mom wanted to go back to her hometown, and got a job with my aunt."

"That's cool. What does she do now?"

"She's working on the mechanical engineering for the floats at the Who-centennial."

"Great!" He tried his best to sound interested.

"The mayor even invited our family to dinner tomorrow night," she added.

"Oh! Well that's...cool," he nodded.

"Do you know the mayor at all?" She asked hopefully.

_"Huh...I guess she doesn't know who I am. Maybe that's a good thing. That way, she can't pretend to be my friend just for attention."_

"Um...you can say we're kinda close," he nodded.

"What's he like? I'm a little nervous," she admitted.

"Well, he's a real nice guy. Funny, kind of akward, a little clumsy, sometimes paranoid...but he's still a nice guy."

"Does he have any kids?"

"Pssshh. Oh yeah, yeah. Like...you know...97."

"Ninety-seven?!" She seemed appalled.

"Ninety-six daughters, and one son." That sort of peaked her interest.

"_One_ son? Do you know what he's like?"

"Uh...I think he's pretty cool. He's our age, the oldest of the kids. That's about all I know," he shrugged.

"Oh, okay."

"So anyway, I hear you're pretty smart," he commented.

"Uh, not really. I'm not that smart and I am _not_ an evil scientist," she said sternly. "At least, not completely," she whispered.

"What?" Jojo didn't hear.

"Nothing," she quickly answered.

"Okay, well. it was nice talking to you," Jojo stood up, smiling.

"You too."

"I guess I'll see ya 'round."

"Yup. Later," she nodded.

Jojo left the table and sat back down with Jamie, Cody and Sam who were anxiously awaiting his return.

"She didn't try to melt your face off, did she?" Sam looked like a little kid with his big wondering eyes. Jojo chuckled.

"No, she didn't try to melt my face off."

"Well, what'd she do?" Jamie urged.

"We just...talked." Jojo shrugged.

"You just talked?" Cody seemed disappointed. "About what?"

"About why she moved and what her mom really does and all. No biggie," Jojo shrugged.

"So why'd she move?" Sam asked.

"Here mom is working on the floats for the Who-centennial with her aunt, and her mom wanted to go back to her hometown."

"That's it? I liked the rumors better," Sam grunted in disappointment.

"Same here," agreed Jamie who sat back in her chair, crossing her arms.

"But she _is_ smart, right?"

"She seemed pretty modest. But if her mom is working the mechanical engineering, I would say she might come from a line of a genius."

"So..."

"Yeah, she's probably smart." Jojo laughed.

"If we get lucky, maybe she'll blow up the science lab!" Sam high fived Jamie and Cody. Jojo rolled his eyes. Maybe it would be best if he didn't tell them that she was coming over for dinner the next day, or that she didn't know who he was. It's just too bad that he didn't know that he already knew her.


	5. Copycat Concepts

Sweethearts and Suckers 5: Copycat Concepts

"Whew. Take a deep breath. In...and out. In...and out. Now...concentrate. Focus. You have only one thing on your mind: song. Be one with the music. One with the song. You are the song, therefore, you can play it. Feel the instrument. Be one with the music. Ready? In...and out."

Jojo held the electric guitar in his hands as he stared at the TV screen. He carefully placed his fingers in position on the guitar, then readied himself for what was coming. The song began. He managed to press his fingers correctly on some of the buttons, only missing a few at a time.

"Thought you'd be here," a voice from behind Jojo startled him half to death as the guitar fell from his hands and hit the hard floor. He stood there for a second, calming himself with deep breaths.

"GAME OVER." A computerized voice announced from the TV.

"Jamie!" Jojo turned around with a very unhappy look on his face.

"Sorry to interrupt your little 'Zen' thing your in, I was just bored and decided to come over. Still trying to learn that new instrument, huh?" She walked over to him and picked up his guitar and handed it to him.

"Yeah, a guitar is a little harder than what we're used to, so I'm trying this game," he answered, taking the guitar from her.

"Oh yeah, Guitar Hero. My brother has that game. He doesn't like it very much, 'cause he sucks at it. But anyway, what'cha plans today?" She asked through the smacking noises she made with her gum.

"Oh, man. Remember that girl, Maggie? The 'evil' scientist?"

"Duh, stupid question."

"She's coming to the mayor's house to dinner tonight with her family."

"You mean _your_ house."

"But she doesn't _know_ it's my house."

"So she doesn't know she's going to have dinner with you too?"

"Yup."

"So?"

That made Jojo think. What was the big deal? What was so interesting about her not knowing?

"I don't know."

"Okay, well your busy and so is Cody, so I'm gonna head over to Sam's."

"See ya."

"Later."

Jamie walked out of the observatory, bending over slightly so that she could fit through the small entrance door.

"Whew. Okay, here we go. Focus. Speed. I am speed. I am agility. I am precision. Be one with the blade. You are the blade. Your blade becomes as your arm, moving as one."

She lunged forward, holding her blade tightly in her hands. Her blows were blocked every time, but she continued curving around her opponent, swinging her arm in swiveling motions. She stabbed her opponent in the chest, then pulled back, victorious.

"Nice, Mags. You're really improving," her teacher, Mike, took off his helmet and sat down on a nearby bench.

"Thanks." Maegan took her own helmet off and sat next to him, panting.

"You like that trance, huh?" He asked, smiling.

"I had no idea getting into the zone like that helped so much," she agreed. "Thanks for the tip."

"Fencing isn't just flailing a sword around like some people think. It requires precision and agility. You are getting really good at it." he complemented.

"It's fun, too." She tried to sound enthusiastic, but she was having some difficulty.

"You just got told you are getting really good at fencing, and you still have a sad face. What's up?" Mike asked, feeling a manner of concern.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just a little disappointed, and nervous," she replied, shrugging.

"Disappointment isn't always nothing. What happened?"

"Well, I've just been trying hard in school to get good grades and be a good student, and now there's rumors at my new school that I'm some sort of evil genius or something. I try to be smart and look where it gets me," she sighed.

"It's only because you're new and nobody knows the real you. Once you show those kids who you really are, they have nothing to criticize," Mike suggested.

"Makes sense. And then this one boy, this was weird. Yesterday morning, I offered to help him with his science project. Then at lunch, he acted as if he was just meeting me! I'm not sure if he didn't recognize me or something, but it was a little strange."

"So he had talked to you earlier, but then he thought he was just meeting you?"

"I first introduced myself to him as Maegan, then at lunch he called me Maggie. Maybe he thinks I'm two different people."

"So?

That made Maegan think. What was the big deal? What was so interesting about him not knowing?

"I don't know."

"Well, don't worry about him. He'll figure it out sooner or later. For now, we have some fencing to tend to." He stood up and put his helmet back on his head.

"On guard!"


End file.
